Apparatus for raising sunken vessels and other bodies.



J. W. WHITE.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES.

APPI'ICATKON FILED JULY 17. 1915.

1,200,404. Patented m. 3; 1916.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

I 1 r L J HI l1 ..J

.\X/1t 55555 15x25 531 @Al/ZQAM J. W. WHITE.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 7. 1915. I 1,200,404. Patented Oct. 3,1916. aSHEETS-SHEET 2.

.llllll-Nll .IIIl-II IIIIIIIIIIIIII givgqifises -J. W. WHITE.

APPARATUS FOR RAlSING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES.

APPLICATION HLED JULY 17. 1916.

1 200,404; Patented on. 3, 1916.

3 SHLETS-SHEET 3.

" TED sA'rEs ra NT GFFICE;

JOSEPH WALWYN WHITE, 0F WIDNES, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS AND OTHER BODIES,

To all whom it may concern Be. it known that L .Tosnmr \VAmvYx throughholes in the pontoons, and applying'onc o more large magnets to the endsof thechains, but all these have resulted in failure'owing to thefollowing causes. It is found impracticable to carry above 25 tons onany one. magnet, and; therefore a very large number of magnets haveto beem ployed each practically on a separate chain though in somecircumstances-two, three, four, oreven more magnets may he by eo mpensating ,devices used on a single chain or: rope. Now this inventiondesignedto raise any ship and =to use a very: large number ot-magnetswithout them interfering with each other.

The invention isbest set the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 shows rnydevice in diagrammatic form, being a cross section. ofthe apparatus in operation. Fig 2 is a longitudinal view' of th same,and 3 is a perspective view of: a compensating device whereby fourmagnets can be attached to one chain, and all pull equally. l

a In these, A 15. 11'1Pfll! of pontoons or even a coupleof vesselsattached together by a stout'b'ridge or deck B. rows ofequalizingghydraulic rams C C, 0X- ti-nding the wholelength of the ship,and a suflicient distance acrossthe bridge to cover the wreck to heraised. It will be seen in the drawings'that there are of these rams,but in practice I may have many more, as each rain: preferably is madeto carry a load of. tons or so, so that with an 8000 ton boat forinstance, about of these rams would be required.

D D are winding winches and E E store pulleys or drums for carrying thewire lifting ropes when wound up.

K K are a series of wire ropes, each carrying at one end an.electro-magnet F. This vleetro-magnet is only put in diagrammnii;

Specification of Letters Patent.

forth aid of On this deck are for fi, but ofcourse consiistsof a softsteel or iron magnet surrounded withpowerful insulated coils of wire toconvert;:.them into eleetro-magnets' in the usual mann(:r."-tl|e'insulated electric wire passing preferahlv 'through the center of therq'iisingrope -or )IlIQIWYISC, to electrical storage batteries orgenerators. There may be one or more magnets to each rope to givethe-required amount of holding power. r G' is the wreck to be raised. Ill the. same put in dotted lines when raised. 7 l. l. are halaneershereafter described; i In Fig. 3. K a lifting chain linked by means ofeve L to the bar M. At each end of the bar. 'l a second harIa-trightanglcs thereto is linkr-(l so as to be able to freely oscillate. Tothe ends of these two. bars four magno ts are pivoted so thattheyrcanstand at an) reasonal-ilc angle with the bar.

. The mode of: operating,this part is as fol- Y Patented Oct. 3, 1010.Application filed July 17, 1916. Serial No. 109,862. v 1

hold of the. metallic portionso ii the; ship.

The ship not-always horizontal. It the. forward end be. lower thanthe'rear endjzl the ship, the. forward magnets- MLillCflt-Cll first. but asthe cable is lmverech-thei hinder om-s also catch and if the deck forother .por-

tion (:augl'i.t be sloping laterally. .l-"ietwol att magnets catchsiierzessi vel \-'.v reasonable pull is now brought to hear by thccrancjan'd the rest of theeahle being conneetcdfito the magnets along:the iron bars' eacl'ixmag'net is independentlycontrolled, and byitestingthese wires it can he sccniat oncei-whether' all four magnets hold.If;theynot, the current must he cut oil. and the cable raised andlowered until they all catch. the four magnets be arranged in. seriesfrom a single circuit, the question of whether the magnets catch or'notcan he quickly Settled by divers or by electric light and photo; graph.Where the wreck is not-so deep but that divers can be employed, thedivers themselves can drag the magnets about so as to cause each to havea good firm hold.-

lt xvill. he noticed from the drawing that the pontoons'are suilicientlyfar apart .to

give thorough stahilityeand .also to enable the wreck to ho. raisedbetween them, till the top appears on the surface. It Willbc obviousthat two or more. of these pontoons can be used to a wreck as one of thepontoons can pull directly upward, and the other one or two at each sidehaving been first attached to the wreck can pull up somewhat obliquelyif required. One, two or more electromagnets can be attached to eachrope so as to give the required holding power.

By the plan shown in the drawing, it will be seen that each rope hangsover a large sheave of ample diameter fitted to the cross head of itscorresponding hydraulic equalizing ram. From this sheave the rope passesto a suitable winch D which applies the necessary lifting powel. Thekind of winch which I suggest, is that known as a warping drum, orfleeting, or surging sheave, having a taper or V-shaped tread, aroundwhich the lifting rope would make 3 or more turns to give the necessaryadhesion. From this fleeting sheave D in the drawing, the tail end ofthe rope passes to a secondary winch or stock drum E. The latter isdriven by a steam engine or electric motor or other suitable power apartfrom the main lifting engines, the only object of this secondary winchor drum being to take up the slack of'tlie lifting rope, and maintain aconstant but slight tension on the tail end of the lifting rope.Incidentally the rope would be kept coiled on this secondary drum E whennot in 1se. Each main 1ift-, ing rope would of course have its ownseparate lifting drum and its own secondary storage drum, but a seriesof these miiin lifting drums could be mounted on one common shaft eitherdirectly or by suitable clutches on shafts running either longitudinallyor transversely to the pontoon" so that they would all revolve atexactly the same speed, and being all of the same size give exactly thesame travel to all the lifting ropes, while at the same time during thefixing, each lifting rope can be attended to, independently 'of therest, if required.

All the rams are exactly the same size, and working in similar cylindersand being all connected to the same high pressure water main, would beof suchjsize as to exactly balance or slightly exceed'the weight of theropes and the lifting tension on those ropes when working with a givendepth of water. Each ram has av sufficient length of stroke or travel toprovide for the maximum rise and fall to be expected from the prevailingworking and weather conditions, say about 15 feet, which would thusprovide for a maximum variation of about 30 feet in actual lift.

The whole of the hydraulic cylinders would be connected to one commonwater main with similar connections, and with an accumulator or balancercommon to the whole series of mains and connections.

The accumulator or balancer is loaded with a dead Weight load of wateror metal or with a steam or pressure load, or a combination of these,and if desired more than one accumulator or balancer can be employed,dependent upon the length and number of water mains used. Suitablerelief valves are also placed at suitable inter 7o vals along the mainsto prevent any excess ofwater pressure and to take up sudden shocks thatmight arise in actual working.

A wreck of known weight calculated as in the water is located by theusual means,

and its exact position and orientation carefully ascertained, thepontoon is floated over it, as near as possible parallel with its axis,a tolerably central electro-magnet and ram is then put into operation,the electromagnet 8') is lowered down until it comes in contact with thewreck. If necessary photographic cameras of suitable watertightconstruction are then lowered over the wreck, together with suitableelectric lighting arrangements,

A sufstable part of the wreck to sustain the full load required, say 89tons, and this goes on until all the electromagnets are fixed. Dur ing'this operation it may sometimes be required to guide the pontoonsomewhat to the windward or current side by means of anchors or thelike. The magnets with their corresponding lifting ropes and insulatedelectric cables are lowered either one by one, or several together, byunwinding their corresponding main hauling drums, and a trial pull equalto the maximum lift required, is

made on each rope to insure that its magnet has got a sutliciently goodhold on a suitable part of the wreck. The rope is then slackened off forthe time being, the electric current being of course still maintained onthe -magnet though preferably in .reduced quantity or strength, untilthe whole of the mag nets are made fast. It will be understood of coursethat in deep water where the pressure is too great, a diver cannot godown to arrange the fixing of these electromagnets; the actualarrangements will be some-. what in the nature of trial and error, andif a magnet when lowered will not sustain the 1307 trial pull, and it ispulled off the wreck, it can be lowered down again and its positionslightly altered until the required holding power is attained.

The position of any given magnet can be ascertained it necessary byphotography and electric light. lvhensall the magnets are fixed, wateris pumped into the whole of the hydraulic cylinders and balancers, so asto raise the rams which carry the liftin; ropea. and so tighten then!up. The travel of the rains is adjusted to about onehalfof their runoutqsav T or feet. by .-ir|'an.; 'ing a ,suitahle amount of slack on thelifting ropes. l

The hydraulic halaneer (or .halanrers if more than one-he e in[-)lo ved)is also adjusted in. a imil'ar inannen When tin-hydraulic 'pun'pn-fhavearrived: at this stage. they are stopped, and only. sullicientwatersuhseueutly added to malv'e -up for any'leakage or waste that may'oeculz; t-

The reason for-having so man) equalizing rains is thatthe weight shallhe distributed over the whole of the electronuignets and ropes equally,the pressure water being brought from the same accumulator or connectedaccumulators or equivalent device, to all the rams. Another advantage ofall the rams hei'ug connected is that it allows for the rise and fall ofthe "lifting vesael or pontoon. Spring mechanism can if necessal') heintroduced in the winches: so that the rope can he n'lade to give alittle, and allow also as: I already referredto. the weighted ram or forexcessive strains owing to the rise and fallof the pontoon.

If. while the wreck is being raised. say the how end of the pontoon wereto give a sudden lurch upward owing to the waves on ,the surface of. thewater. extra pressure would he at on e put upon the rains at the howend, and lessenei'l pressure upon those at the stern end (wring/to thedip of the stern) 'witlrthe result that the plus' inesslll'e water wouldatonce he driven out of the how cylinders into the rear end cylinders,thus maintaining przu-tically constant [)t't .{ure on the whole seriesof rains. For this [inrposethe water mains Should he of ample size toreadily allow the water to pass to and fro along the. rams andhalanccrs, and thus equalizing the purssure on-the rains throughout. Thehalancing of these pressures i.-; sti-d hr the accumulator or halancerrams (if there he more than one) of which will rise up and fall as theweaeures vary. while the maximum weight on the halancer governs. themaximum strain which can he Thig maximumpu. on the lifting ropesf strainon each rope isalso controlled h v the action ofcthe relief \al\'e."-:.which are prm idcd at suitahle intervals along each series of watermains, or it may he on each cylinde x. when thussuhstantially equalpressures on the whole of the lifting ropes are thus' secured. the mainlifting drums are started in motion, care being taken as alreadydcscril'ied to insure that they shall all revolre'at the same'speed soas to provide for equal h ulage on each rope: the tailend-3 of the ropesunwind from the lifting winches on to their respective stock drums inthe manner already described. Then supposing by any chance, any one ropegot wound in more quickly than the..others, owing to llfi liftingdruni'lacing larger Hl dianu-terpor driveu' more quickly than the others. thiswo uld put an extra strain onits corre m|uling ram. which would thus he(li'lll'VFFltland xhow at once tothe men in charge. that this particulardrum was. in fa t, winding inits rope too quiekl v. ()r. supposing onthe other hand, that a magnet slipped. or came off the wreck. or if.a.,.rope hroke. or

an unusual thing happened to lessen the strain on any r pe,lts'equallzmgram would passed immediately under the wreck from,

one side to the other, and thus permanently secure it, to the p ntoons.'lhe pontoon with its wreck can then he towed into port, and repaired atleisure,. or the holes'in' the wreck-can be plugged up and the watering, (:fore being towed into port. I

It is believed that after the wreck has been properly located it will'in most instances he a matter of. a week or only to .he ahle to raiseit from any lcasona le depth, thougl dfcourse when a very, great-depth,'and consequently-there is a-greatldngth of'lifting ropefi, extratime may he employed in maneuvering to get the lifting magnets firmlyattached to the wreck at greatdepths. For very great vessels, such asfor instance the I... I Mai/1.. era] of these pontoons can he used, onehehind the other.

It. underStood that one or more magnets pumped out, and the wreck madeself floatcan he attached to each lifting rope,'and if for example, sayfour or five (or any other numher) separate magnets were used, theywould he s connected together in a sw-1vel 'ing or equalizing frame, asto form one point of suspension for the lifting rope, as for in stancethe arrangement in Fig.3, while al lowing freedom of movement to eachindividual magnet so that it could adjust; itself 'to the shape orcontour ofthe wreck, over which it found itself.

I declare that what-I cla-in1 is:

1. In a magnetic lifting apparatus comprising a cable, a supporting barconnected to the. cable, transverse bars' connected to the supportingbar. and magnets connected to the transverse bars.

2. In a magnetic lifting apparatus, comprising a cable, a supporting barconnected nected to the ends of the spipporting bars, and magnetspivoted to the transverse bars to the cable, transverse bars pivotallycon nected 66 the s'npporting bar, and magnets connebted to transversebars.

3. In a magnetic lifting apparatus, com- '5 prising a cable, asupporting bar connected to the cable, transverse bars pivotally conkthe movement of the bars.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto and having a movement at rightangles to signed my name this 23rd day of June .1916,

nected to the supporting bar, and magnets in the presence of twosubscribing ",itnesses. Y

pivotally connected to the transverse bars.

4. In a; magnetic lifting apparatus, a.

10 cable, a supporting bar loosely supported by the cable, transversebars pivotally con- J'OSEPH WALWYN ITE. Witnesses: Y

i CHARLES LESLIE, MYLES HAlLnsi

